The Evolution of Athleticism

An evidence-based tour from early human evolution to modern training, inactivity, aging, and disease risk.

What you’ll learn
✓ Explain major evolutionary milestones relevant to human movement and distinguish key evidence types and how they support claims
✓ Describe evolutionary drivers of bipedalism and relate walking/activity patterns to modern contexts.
✓ Explain how modern inactivity—including sitting patterns and sleep—relates to physiology and health using lecture-level mechanisms.
✓ Explain hypotheses for endurance capacity and interpret core endurance/cardiorespiratory fitness concepts.
✓ Distinguish strength vs. power; evaluate evidence comparing human and other primate performance; & connect muscularity/strength training concepts to trade-offs
✓ Explain major ideas about aging and healthspan (including compression of morbidity) and use them to justify movement priorities across the lifespan.
✓ Integrate evidence-based mechanisms linking movement patterns to chronic disease risk

Requirements
● no requirements or prerequisites

Description
Humans weren’t built to “work out.” We were built to survive: to walk long distances, carry loads, sprint occasionally, recover fast, and stay functional long enough to raise kids and contribute to a group. Modern life flips that script. We sit more, move less, sleep differently, and expect our bodies to thrive anyway.

The Evolution of Athleticism takes you inside the why behind human movement and performance, using an evidence-based mix of evolutionary biology, physiology, genetics, and anthropology. You’ll learn how and why traits like bipedalism, endurance, strength, and even aggression show up in the human body, and what happens when those traits collide with modern environments.

This isn’t a motivational fitness class. It’s a clear, compelling framework for making sense of exercise, aging, and health claims you hear every day and deciding what actually matters for your body.

By the end, you’ll be able to

• Spot common fitness myths and evaluate claims using scientific reasoning

• Understand the biology of inactivity, walking, running, strength/power, aging, and disease risk

• Build a realistic weekly movement plan aimed at long-term function, not perfection, including an adherence strategy

Whether you’re a student, coach, trainer, healthcare-minded learner, or just curious about what your body is “for,” this course gives you the missing story that makes movement finally make sense.

Who this course is for
■ Learners interested in human evolution + fitness + health, including students, trainers, coaches, and curious general learners.
■ People who want to critically evaluate claims about performance and health using scientific reasoning and clear citation practices
■ Anyone who wants an evidence-based framework for building a realistic movement plan aimed at healthspan (not just “optimal on paper”).